John Ferguson Rehill

John Ferguson Rehill (14 July 1868 - 1946) was a British superindendent of police in Punjab, India, known for escorting Satyapal and Saifuddin Kitchlew to Dharamshala on 10 April 1919, and Reginald Dyer to Jallianwalla Bagh three days later.[1]

Biography

John Rehill was born in Multan on 14 July 1868.[2] He joined the Indian Imperial Police in 1892 and became superintendent in 1906.[2]

As superindendent of police in Punjab,[3] Rehill was given job of driving Satyapal and Saifuddin Kitchlew to Dharamshala on 10 April 1919.[4]

At about 4 p.m. on 19 April 1919, Rehill informed Dyer that a meeting at Jallianwala Bagh was taking place, with at least 1,000 people already gathered.[5] According to Captain Briggs,[6] and Girdhari Lal, a key witness to the Jallianwalla Bagh Massacre who gave testimony in the Congress Party’s inquiry into the Punjab disturbances, Rehill travelled in the car behind Dyer alongside R. Plomer on the way to the Bagh.[7] To Lal, Rehill "could not bear to see the firing through and went outside the garden to avoid the sight".[8] Answering the Hunter Inquiry, Rehill claimed he saw nothing.[8]

Rehill continued to work in the police for a few more years, and retired in January 1924.[2] According to his niece "After the massacre he took to the bottle and several times was the worst for wear on duty. His colleagues covered up for him. He became depressed and moody... He completely lost his zest and, for very many years had the most appalling nightmares. As a youngster, they tell me, he had been a bold and daring man, but when I knew him, he was a shadow of that former self."[8]

Death

He died in 1946 in Newton Abbott.[9]

References

  1. ^ Perkins, Roger (1989). The Amritsar Legacy: Golden Temple to Caxton Hall, the Story of a Killing. Picton. pp. 83, 183–184. ISBN 978-0-948251-44-3.
  2. ^ a b c The Wohl Library of the Institute of Historical Research, School of Advanced Study, University of London, England, Registers of Employees of the East India company from 1707 to 1861 and the India Office from 1862 to 1947, pp.652, 701, 857.
  3. ^ Wagner, pp. 73-74
  4. ^ Ilahi, Shereen (2020). "Punjab disturbances". Imperial Violence and the Path to Independence: India, Ireland and the Crisis of Empire. London: Bloomsbury Academic. pp. 39–43. ISBN 978-1-350-15306-6.
  5. ^ Wagner, p. 151
  6. ^ Wagner, p. 160
  7. ^ Wagner, p. 156
  8. ^ a b c Wagner, pp. 247-248
  9. ^ England & Wales, Civil Registration Death Index, 1916-2007

Further reading

Bibliography

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 unless otherwise noted. Additional terms may apply for the media files.